Human Rights A Day

Iranian Muslim leader Ayatollah Khomeini issues death threat against British author Salman Rushdie. British author Salman Rushdie published his book Satanic Verses in September 1988, to critical acclaim and sales of more than 100,000 within a few months. It didn’t take long, however, for Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, to take revenge on the Bombay-born author of the controversial satirical novel, which Khomeini felt cast the Muslim faith in a less than flattering light. On February 14, 1989, Khomeini condemned Rushdie to death. During the Tehran Radio broadcast, the holy man declared a day of mourning and said, "I inform the proud Muslim people of the world that the author of the Satanic Verses book – which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Koran – and all those involved in its publication who are aware of its content, are sentenced to death.” This “fatwa” (an Islamic religious decree) sent Rushdie into hiding as Muslims around the world protested in the streets. He spent nine years in nume